NYC Cops Protest Mayor Dinkins and His Many Failures

Officers Rally And Dinkins Is Their Target

​Thousands of off-duty police officers thronged around City Hall yesterday, swarming through police barricades to rally on the steps of the hall and blocking traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge for nearly an hour in the most unruly and angry police demonstration in recent memory.

The 300 uniformed officers who were supposed to control the crowd did little or nothing to stop the protesters from jumping barricades, tramping on automobiles, mobbing the steps of City Hall or taking over the bridge. In some cases, the on-duty officers encouraged the protesters.

While the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association had called the rally to protest Mayor David N. Dinkins's proposal to create an independent civilian agency that would look into police misconduct, the huge turnout -- estimated by the Police Department at 10,000 protesters -- and the harsh emotional pitch reflected widespread anger among rank-and-file officers toward the Mayor for his handling of riots against the police in Washington Heights last July, his refusal to give them semiautomatic weapons and his appointment of an outside panel to investigate corruption.

"He never supports us on anything," said Officer Tara Fanning of the Midtown South Precinct, echoing the view of many in the crowd. "A cop shoots someone with a gun who's a drug dealer, and he goes and visits the family."

Dinkins Denounces Protest

Mayor Dinkins, who was not at City Hall during the demonstration, denounced the protest as "bordering on hooliganism" and said he held the P.B.A. president, Phil Caruso, responsible for what happened. He accused Mr. Caruso of inciting his members' passions and suggested the union leader was motivated in part by contract negotiations.

The Mayor also assailed Rudolph W. Giuliani, the probable Republican mayoral candidate, who spoke out against the Mayor at the union rally. Mr. Dinkins said Mr. Giuliani had egged on the protest irresponsibly for political reasons. "He's clearly, clearly an opportunist," Mr. Dinkins said. "He's seizing upon a fragile circumstance in our city for his own political gain."

Mr. Caruso conceded that the protesters who stormed the bridge had got out of hand. He said he did not sanction their actions, but he added that their anger was understandable and warned that the "administration better wake up to what's happening."

"The emotional level did get a little out of control, but sometimes if emotionalism is not evoked publicly, the responsible elements of the community do not listen," he said.Mr. Giuliani called the Mayor's remarks "desperate and offensive." He denied he had harangued the crowd and said he did not condone demonstrators breaking the law. "The Mayor is dead wrong," he said. "What I attempted to do was to move them away from City Hall."

While about 6,000 officers participated in a peaceful rally on Murray Street, more than 4,000 swarmed over police barricades, blocked the entry to City Hall and later marched onto the Brooklyn Bridge, where they tied up traffic for nearly an hour. Neither the leadership of the P.B.A. nor senior officers of the department were able to control them.

In a telling moment, Chief David W. Scott, the highest ranking uniformed officer in the department, was booed down by the crowd when he implored the officers to move off the steps of City Hall. "I'm disappointed in the fact that police officers would violate the law," Chief Scott said later.

Mr. Caruso and his aides also failed to persuade the splinter group to join the main rally. "Fellas, come on this way," Mr. Caruso said through a bull horn, his words lost in the cacophony.The protest began shortly after 10 A.M. as officers who had been bused in from all over the city by the union started to march around City Hall Park. From the onset, the demonstrators' rhetoric was vicious. Bristling with banners and signs, the column stretched around the entire park and spilled past the blue sawhorse barricades onto Broadway and Park Row. The officers alternated chants of "No justice! No police!" with slogans like "The Mayor's on Crack."

Many officers wore T-shirts saying "Dinkins Must Go!" Hundreds carried hand-painted signs with sayings like "Dear Mayor, have you hugged a drug dealer today," "Dinkins, We Know Your True Color -- Yellow Bellied."At 10:50 A.M., a few demonstrators chanting "Take the hall! Take the hall!" flooded over the barriers and into the parking lot in front of City Hall, meeting no resistance from the police on guard. Cheering and screaming, thousands of others poured through from every side of the park and seethed up the hall steps. Some mounted automobiles and began a raucous demonstration, denting the cars.

While the rowdier demonstrators refused to leave the City Hall area, most of the group crowded onto Murray Street between Church Street and Broadway, where they listened to sharply worded speeches from Mr. Caruso, Mr. Giuliani and, finally, Michael O'Keefe, the officer who was cleared by a grand jury recently in the shooting death of a Dominican man in Washington Heights. Many officers flooded the bars along Murray Street and drank openly on the street during the speeches. Bridge Blocked

At 11:40 A.M., several thousand of the officers in front of City Hall marched onto the Brooklyn Bridge, again meeting no resistance, while others joined the rally on Murray Street. Ten minutes later, the bridge was blocked in both directions with more than 2,000 officers milling on both roadways. They blocked traffic until about 12:20, when the crowd began to dissipate.

During most of that time, there were no uniformed officers on the bridge, though four officers on scooters arrived shortly after noon. They did virtually nothing to control the crowd. At one point, a New York Times photographer who was taking pictures was surrounded by demonstrators, punched in the back and shoved. A police lieutenant told the photographer, Keith Meyers, that he should leave the bridge. "I can't protect you up here," the officer said. A New York Times reporter, Alan Finder, was also kicked in the stomach.

At 12:30 P.M., 40 minutes after the bridge was first blocked, a handful of senior police commanders arrived to talk to the remaining protesters, who had dwindled to about 200. By 12:40, the bridge was reopened.Asked why the department did not take stronger action to control the protesters, Raymond W. Kelly, the Acting Police Commissioner, said the size and vehemence of the protest had caught police commanders by surprise. He promised a full investigation to determine if any protesters had broken the law and whether on-duty officers were too lenient.​

Photos: The level of police anger at Mayor David N. Dinkins for his support of an independent civilian agency that would look into police misconduct brought thousands of off-duty officers to City Hall yesterday. Undeterred by on-duty officers who were supposed to control the crowd, demonstrators jumped barricades and blocked traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. (Keith Meyers/The New York Times) (pg. B1); Rudolph W. Giuliani, left, spoke yesterday at a rally that drew thousands of police officers. The officers were protesting several policies of Mayor David N. Dinkins. (John Sotomayor/The New York Times); Mr. Dinkins denounced the appearance, calling Mr. Giuliani, the probable Republican mayoral candidate, "an opportunist." (Ruby Washington/The New York Times) (pg. B8)